Tag Archives: Advice for Landlords

The top 5 things that devalue your house

Posted on 9th November 2012

The top 5 things that devalue your house – We know that adding value to your home is best done by adding floor space via conversions, but how is your home devalued most. Where should you spend that cash to make sure you don’t lose out on a best price? These are the top five ways to not splash your cash meaninglessly, instead, tastefully adding value to your home. Remember, not everyone will have the same tastes as you. For certain repair work, you may […]

Decorating Your Rental Property

Posted on 5th November 2012

Decorating Your Rental Property – When you buy a new property to let, the chances are it will need a little TLC to get it looking its best and ready to rent out. The better your property looks inside, the more appealing it will be to your market, meaning higher rents and less risk of void periods. But does it all have to be magnolia walls and blue carpets? Or is there a little more room for invention?
Know your market
Tenants do generally want relatively neutral […]

Benefit Changes: Could they affect you?

Posted on 29th October 2012

Benefit Changes: Could they affect you? If you are a private landlord renting to tenants on housing benefit, you are likely to be affected by the government’s changes to the benefit system. Change is taking place that will mean that many tenants will find their benefits reduced, and that benefits will be paid to the tenant rather than directly to the landlord.
This could mean that tenants struggle to meet their rent payments. Landlords are already suffering from record levels of tenant arrears, with around 10% […]

Improve your house or pay off your mortgage? The Landlord’s dilemma.

Posted on 24th October 2012

Improve your house or pay off your mortgage? The Landlord’s dilemma.
Some of us find ourselves in the fortunate position of having a bit of spare cash to hand. Should you spend this spare cash on home improvements or paying off a portion of your mortgage thus reducing monthly payments? If money is a problem, you may want to consider none of these options and it may be best to save any spare cash you have should you need it at a later date for replacing […]

The Future of Buy-to-Let Lending

Posted on 19th October 2012

The Future of Buy-to-Let Lending
It’s difficult to tell whether the Euro crisis has reached a stage where everything has calmed sufficiently to allow headline writers a period of rest, or it’s got to the stage where the intricacies of the package required to save the currency have become so complex they’re just not worth publishing, but either way, we have reached something of a financial plateau in the UK. Indicators aren’t improving, but with Christmas well on the way, things aren’t necessarily getting worse. However, […]

PVC double glazing – Good or bad?

Posted on 17th October 2012

Double glazing has become a staple of properties since the 90’s, and in the 2000’s virtually every British home had double or even triple glazed windows installed amongst rising energy prices and concerns of global warming. These have traditionally come in white PVC and aluminium frames. Older white PVC windows can however suffer photodegradation and go yellow when exposed to exposed to sunlight and start to look very tatty indeed.
Wood alternatives
Double glazed windows can also be made out of wood and is generally considered the […]

Should you become an Accidental Landlord?

Posted on 15th October 2012

 
Should you become an Accidental Landlord?
With property prices stagnant, standard mortgages hard to get and property sales sluggish, many people turning to the private rental market when they need to find a home, rather than buying. But what do you do if you already own a home, and want to move? The answer for many is to become a so-called ‘accidental landlord’, letting their home while renting another. For those unable or unwilling to sell, it seems like the perfect housing solution. But is it […]

Retail landlords must be flexible

Posted on 10th October 2012

Retail landlords must be flexible -There are an increasing number of empty premises on high streets around the country, although figures are not clear or easily obtainable. There have been calls to government and the local authorities to do something about the situation, but is there anything that Landlords can do?
Tough times
The Olympics – Hopes of a boost in the economy with increased retail and tourism in and around London. It never happened. Boris Johnson, Mayor of London even acknowledged that Olympic retail figures were […]

Living in Luxury?

Posted on 8th October 2012

Living in Luxury?
Landlords need to make a profit from their investment, but they can have other motivations too. For many, being a landlord can be way of indulging their own property dreams, renovating homes in style and buying luxury property to rent out to tenants who appreciate the finer things in life. From sumptuous holiday lets, to modern designer homes packed with gadgets, to grand Victorian property: there is always demand for luxury lets.
Expensive tastes
Buying and letting a luxury home can be lucrative, with homes […]

Marketing your rental property

Posted on 1st October 2012

 
Marketing your rental property – With the property market in the UK booming, some landlords might be tempted to sit back and relax when it comes to property marketing. If you are one of them, think again: good marketing is vital to make sure you achieve top rents and get good quality tenants.
Knowing who to target
‘Targeting’ might sound like a rather involved process, but it doesn’t need to be. It does pay, however, to know what your target demographic is and to work towards meeting […]